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If I wanted to grow my own feedstock to just power my vehicle for like I said 3hrs at the most on a bad day, how much land would it be, and how much would it cost in seeds? On most days I would be traveling that much. I only want it for myself, and maybe some relatives. Or if I bought the feedstock, what is cheaper, that or petroleum? Thank you for all your help
Ethanol is marginally cheaper.
But the reverse math has sort of put a support price under Corn, so the numbers chase each other very closely.
Doing the math:
1 Bushel = 2.5 gallons. (2.8 gallons if you were industry optimized, but you will not be).
Right now, @ about $7.25 a bushel = $2.90 / gallon for your cost of product.
There is also some equipment cost + some energy cost for cooking and distilling -- but those could be Solar Thermal.
You will be left with some high protein mush suitable to feed cattle or hogs.
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And you may wish to grow your own Corn?
In the US, with Corn, again, allow for yields from 60 Bushel per acre (low number, non-irrigated) to over 250 Bushel per acre (high number, irrigated).
Handy thing is if it is your own site -- you can do the Fuel on the Farm, and you could not get full CBOT for sellilng your Corn.
So an acre could reasonable give you 60 X 2.5 = 150 gallons of Ethanol to 250 x 2.5 = 625 gallons of Ethanol.
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Sugar Beets, Sugar Cane, and Jerusalem Artichokes are other raw source fuel contenders depending on your location.
Here in the South, we have areas with rapidly producing Kudzu. I have often wondered about using Kudzu as a fuel source but have no clue how to go about this process.
I appreciate the info that folks have shared - I am off to research the subject further!
Edited to add: I found this interesting article on Kudzu use - and the article suggests that if the USA would make use of kudzu as a fuel, it could mean production of about 8% of the nation's fuel needs (that % was from 2006 figures).
I suggest harvesting, drying, pelletizing, bagging and burning in pellet stoves might work. After Kudzu is mostly cellulose and water just like any other woody product. One problem would be keeping the product dry so the stuff does not start growing again.
Now is the reason for biofuel's mileage because our cars are not optimal for biofuels? Like if we made the cars lighter, geared them differently, or added a nitrous oxide system, would it allow for better mileage, and therefore use less fuel to travel even further?
Now is the reason for biofuel's mileage because our cars are not optimal for biofuels? Like if we made the cars lighter, geared them differently, or added a nitrous oxide system, would it allow for better mileage, and therefore use less fuel to travel even further?
For ethanol at least, the only real optimizations necessary would be adjusting the fuel/air mixture and timing because the burn dynamics are different. You won't get exactly the same mpg as gasoline, but running 100% ethanol (or methanol) will be fairly close.
However, as long as we have blended fuels and flex-fuel vehicles, neither fuels are able to reach their fully optimized potential.
Lightening the curb weight and adjusting the gear ratio certainly wouldn't hurt, regardless of fuel type. Gearing really is application specific... the gear ratio for a high-torque utility tractor would be completely different than a high-speed commuting car. This is why pickup trucks tend to get bad mpg, because they are trying to deliver a little of both and not fully optimized to either. NOS isn't really going to help you get better mpg, since it is a fuel in itself (which you can't make at home)... you'd really just be trading fuels.
Yes, you could use ethanol or methanol in any 4-stroke gasoline combustion engine that has been optimized for alcohol... generators, lawnmowers, woodchippers, woodsplitters, motorcycles, ATVs, etc. So far, the only thing we haven't been able to figure out is 2-stroke (chainsaws & weedwhackers) since those engines require the lubricant to be added in the fuel, and alcohol dissolves most lubricants.
Can you imagine how efficient a modern steam engine could be today if it had 100+ years of engineering improvements? Steam engines were too dangerous and bulky in the late 18oos but with the new materials we have today it may have a future in this century.
GL2
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Kudzu
